Progressive Commentary Hour

Chris Hedges is one of our nation’s most insightful cultural critics, social and political activists and authors. For almost 20 years he was a foreign correspondent in war zones and conflicts in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans, having reported for The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor and other news outlets.  While at the Times, Chris received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on global terrorism. The same year he received Amnesty International’s Global Award for Human Rights Journalism.  Over the years he has taught at Columbia, Princeton, NYU and the University of Toronto. Among Chris’ many noteworthy books are “American Fascists” (about the fundamental Christian Right), “Empire of Illusion”, and “Death of the Liber. His latest is “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt”  – a  compelling hard look at the most impoverished regions in the US that have become what Chris calls “sacrifice zones” for the benefit of the  powerful and wealthy. Andrew Harvey is an internationally renowned religious scholar, teacher, and author of over thirty books.  He is the founder of the Institute of Sacred Activism, an international organization dedicated to inspiring people to become more active and vital in challenging our global crises and to commit themselves to peace and sustainability. Andrew was born in India, studied at Oxford University where he was a fellow at All Soul’s College. Over the years he has taught at Oxford, Cornell, the California Institute for Integral Studies and other institutions.  He is perhaps best known for having explored all the different religions in depth, particularly Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sufism, and interpreting them in a passionate manner while also preserving their essential meaning and significance for our own time. Andrew has received many awards for his writings including the Benjamin Franklin Award. His most recent book is “Radical Passion: Sacred Love and Wisdom in Action” and before that “The Hope: A Guide To Sacred Activism” which won the Nautilus Silver Award for Social Change.

Investigation into the rise of US aggression in Syria Ken Stone is a veteran Canadian anti-war, social justice and environmental activist. He is the treasurer of the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, and serves on the steering committees for the Syrian Solidarity Movement and the Canadian Peace Alliance. In 2016 he was a participant in the second International Tour for Peace in Syria. Ken covers the Syrian crisis for the Hamilton Spectator news and for Global Research.  He is the author of "Defiant Syria" which recounts his observations and analysis while in Syria.  The Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War's website is HCSW.ca Rick Sterling is a retired aerospace engineer and investigative journalist who writes primarily on international relations.  who has been involved in the struggles against imperialism and supporting justice in the Middle East, Latin America and US-Russia relations.  Rick is currently the president of the board of Mount Diablo Peace and Justice Center and a co-founder and steering committee member of the Syria Solidarity Movement.  He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and can be reached atrsterling1@gmail.com  His organization's website is SyriaSolidarityMovement.org 

Corruption and Illegal activities targeting minorities in the NYPD   Steve Maing is an Emmy-nominated documentary film director and visual journalist in New York City. hie first film, "High Tech, Low Life" chronicled two of China's first dissident citizen journalists reporting on censored news throughout mainland China and was part of PBS' award winning series P.O.V. Steve has directed films for the New York Times, Times Magazine, The Nation, and others. He is a fellow of the Sundance institute's Documentary Film Program and an adjunct teacher at Massachusetts College of Art.  His most recent feature -- "Crime And Punishment," now showing at the IFC Theater, at 6th Avenue and 3rd Street through Thursday, tells the gripping story of a landmark class action lawsuit spearheaded by a brave group of Black and Latino cops turned whistle blower to expose an NYPD's illegal quota practices and targeting of minorities. The film's website is CrimeAndPunishmentDoc.com   Sgt Edwin Raymond has been with NYPD-12 for ten years and a Sargent for two. He is a lead plaintiff in class action lawsuit featured in the documentary.   Pedro Serrano is a police officer with NYPD-12 and another lead plaintiff in the case.    Sgt. Cyress Smith spent 19 years in New York City's Performance Monitoring Unit, the department responsible for overseeing individual police departments', such as NYPD-12, comply with departmental regulations as well as ticketing quotas. Sgt Smith was a lead whistleblower for exposing how corruption was instituted at the NYPD's higher levels.      Film:  "Crime And Punishment," now screening at the IFC Theater, at 6th Avenue and 3rd Street through Thursday, and will be showing in select theaters around the country.  It is available on HuLu   WEBSITE:   CrimeAndPunishmentDoc.com

Ralph Nader is without a second one of the most influential Americans during the past several decades.  He is directly responsible for many of our most important bills that have provided protection to consumers against the onslaughts of corporate short-term profits and the Friedmanite free market, unregulated capitalism. landmark acts for Freedom of Information, Clean Water, Clean Air, Whistleblower Protection, Wholesome Food, and others that have been enacted by Congress.  A graduate of Princeton and Harvard universities, Ralph has been a presidential candidate for five elections, building his platform on consumer rights, humanitarian and civil rights efforts, environmental sanity, and democratic government.  Ralph’s most recent book just released this month is  “To the Ramparts: How Bush and Obama Paved the Way for the Trump Presidency and Why It Isnt too Late to Reverse Course” that outlines the key flaws in the former White House administrations, and both parties, have brought us to the edge we find ourselves today as a nation.  His website is Nader.org and CSRL.org Joseph (Joe) Stillman has been a film director, producer, and writer for over 46 years. He has received one Emmy and several films were in in the running for Academy Awards. For the past 20 years, Joe has put his attention on independent films that focus on issues of the ethics of anti-war, human rights and correcting injustices.  His most recent film that premiered on July 27th in Los Angeles is "Citizen Clark: A Life of Principle" about the life and long legacy of Ramsey Clark, former attorney general under President Johnson and Assistant Attorney General under John F Kennedy, who exemplifies the kind of fearlessness and courage to stand up for truth against the enormous powers of government and influence. The film features Ramsey, Ralph Nader, Alice Walker, Noam Chomsky, Frank Serpico and others.  The film's website is ALifeofPrinciple.com and has just been made available on Amazon.    Frank Serpico is a former New York City Police Department officer who was the first officer in the department's history to whistleblow and testify about the widespread system corruption and payoffs in the NYPD that amounted to millions of dollars.  Al Pacino played Frank's roll in the 1973 film Serpico which was nominated for numerous awards including two Academy Award nominations.  For the past 20 plus years since moving back to the US from Europe, Frank continues to speak out against police brutality and corruption and civil rights injustices. He currently resides in upstate New York.   Mimi Clark Gronlund is the sister of former Attorney General Ramsey Clark. She is also the author of a biography of their father, Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark: A Life of Service, who was Attorney General under Harry Truman and later a Supreme Court Justice until 1967

Gary and Producer Richard Gale speak on the latest current events in the world    

Geoengineering's failed efforts to curb climate change, its blowback on the environment , methane threats and governments' efforts to mask the severity of our climate change crisis   Dane Wigington is a geoengineering scientist with a background in solar energy who is highly regarded as one of the foremost experts and commentators on stratospheric aerosol geoengineering and solar radiation management.   He is a former employee at Bechtel Power Corporation and worked on the first commercial solar plants in the United States.  As a climate researcher, Dane has been studying the issue of geoengineering and chemtrails for over a decade.  He has appeared  in numerous documentary films and pubic appearances educating the public about the adverse effects of weather modification and is featured in Michael Murphy’s documentary “Why in the World are They Spraying.” He lives on his wildlife preserve near Lake Shasta in Northern California. And it was through his observations in the change of the forests, atmosphere, biodiversity and health of the land that alerted him to the implications of excessive geoengineering operations in his region. Dane hosts the weekly radio broadcast Global Alert News every Wednesday at 2 pm Eastern Time on the Progressive Radio Network and directs the website GeoEngineeringWatch. org for the latest updates and commentaries on geoengineering science and its adverse effects.

Gary and Producer Richard Gale speak on the latest current events in the world

climate change and the future of humanity Kevin Hester is the host of radio program Nature Bats Last with climate change scholar Guy McPherson, which airs on the Progressive Radio Network every Tuesday at 3 pm Eastern Time.  He  lives on a small off-the-grid island in the Hauraki Gulf, 15 miles from the city of Auckland New Zealand. Kevin  has completed 16 ocean passages on small yachts, over half of them as skipper. He was once arrested and charged with “Obstructing a nuclear ship in the course of its passage” and  was at the bombed Green Peace Rainbow Warrior within an hour of the detonation and the murder of Fernando Pereira in Auckland harbor, carried out by a large contingent of soldiers in the French DGSE in July 1985.  Kevin currently spends his time researching abrupt climate change, the collapse of complex societies, and the real-time unravelling of the biosphere.  His articles can be found on his website is KevinHester.live.    Dr. Paul Beckwith is a physicist, engineer, and post doctoral candidate in the Laboratory of Paleoclimatology and Climatology at the University of Ottawa in Ontario, where he also teaches as a part time professor.  Paul’s research specializes in abrupt effects from climate change (such as tornados and the rise in more fierce tropical storms), greenhouse gas emissions, the global implications of the melting Arctic ice sheets, and social media for climate change advocacy.  He is a member and participant in the Arctic Methane Emergency Group and the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society.  His website is PaulBeckwith.net and he offers many educational videos about climate change science on his Youtube channel under his name.   

Our failing domestic economy, globalization and the Deep state Prof William Robinson is Professor of Sociology at the University of California at Santa Barbara who describes himself as a scholar-activist. He is also on the university’s faculty of Latin American Studies and in the Global and International Studies Program and is deeply involved in American domestic and Third World struggles for social justice, popular empowerment of populations and participatory democracy and government.  His areas of focus include globalization, transnationalism, political economics, immigration and a variety of sociological issues. William received his graduate degrees from the University of New Mexico, and has published eight books, his latest being “Global Capitalism and the Crisis of Humanity,” which takes a hard look at the totalitarian structures and agenda of the transnational capitalist class that promotes neoliberal restructuring and trade liberalization.   His website is SOC.UCSB.edu/Faculty/Robinson

Political Mind Games -- the psychology behind the elite's manipulation and marketing of false social and political claims  to get us to support their self-serving agendas. Dr. Roy Eidelson (I-dell-son) has been a practicing clinical, research and political psychologist for over three decades focusing on the psychological issues of civil justice and social change. He is the former executive director of the Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at the University of Pennsylvania and is the past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility. He is also a member of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology that advocates against the use of torture. Dr. Eidelson has written dozens of professional papers for academic journals, hosts a blog on Psychology Today, and his articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Truthout, Alternet and other progressive media. He holds a degree from Princeton University and received his doctorate in psychology from the University of North Carolina.  Roy's recent book is "Political Mind Games: How the 1% Manipulate our Understanding of What is Happening, What's Right and What's Possible," which gets a marvelous account of how the messages we are bombarded with by politicians, parties and the political media are intentional games to confuse into believing and supporting the elite's self-serving agenda. His website is RoyEidelson.com

Why Does Google Want Your DNA?, Why incompetent people think they're amazing - David Dunning, Ray McGovern: The Inside Scoop on the Middle East & Israel

International Journalist Tells The Truth About Syria Carla Ortiz Shocking Video From Syria Contradicts Corp. News Coverage

Moves for a Grand Jury inquiry with the Department of Justice to reopen the investigation into the downing of the World Trade buildings on 911   Mick Harrison is the Executive Director for the Lawyers Committee for 911 Inquiry, a non profit organization that seeks transparency and accountability regarding events occurring on September 11, 2001. He is currently the lead attorney in the petition filed yesterday with the Department of Justice demanding Grand Jury investigation into collapse of Buildings 1, 2 and 7 at the World Trade Center. The petition includes evidence that explosives were used to bring down the towers and Building 7.  He has specialized in environmental and whistleblower cases for the Government Accountability Project. Among his cases were exposing US Army's knowingly issuing defective gas masks to troops during the Gulf War, the politicalization of science at the EPA, mishandling of funds for Supersite clean ups and illegal waste management, representing Greenpeace and native American tribes in federal lawsuits and much more. Mick holds degrees from Indiana University and received his Juris doctorate from the University of District of Columbia School of Law.  The Committee's website is  LawyersCommitteeFor9-11inquiry.org      David Meiswinkle is a criminal defense attorney practicing in New Jersey and the current Secretary and Board member for the Lawyers Committee for 911 Inquiry, and President of New Jersey 911 Aware, an educational group trying to increase awareness of the scientific and forensic evidence behind 911. He is also the co-founder of Quantum Matrix Alternative Media and a host on Quantum Matrix Radio that discusses alternative healing, energy sciences, suppressed inventions and other cutting edge topics.   David is a retired police officer, army veteran. In 2009, he ran as an independent against Chris Christie for New Jersey's governorship and for Congress in 2010.  

Is “the Left” eating itself? Watch the Unsafe Space Tour panel discussion at New York Law School, featuring Professors Bret Weinstein, Laura Kipnis, Angus Johnston, and author Brendan O'Neill. Moderated by Tom Slater (of Spiked Magazine).

In this episode of The Progressive Commentary Hour Gary goes over the videos of  EDWARD SNOWDEN DROPS MEGA BOMBSHELL ON THE ELITES IN NEW INTERVIEW and Senator Exposes Syrian WMD False Flag; Says Hillary Ordered Murder Of Chris Stevens. Gary gives his feedback and thoughts on these topics.